I'll Fly Away

Something reminded me of this song. The last time I sang it was at Promise Land with Cathy's dad.

I'll Fly Away
Words & Music: Alfred E. Brumley

Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away;
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have grown,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away;
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.

Just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away;
To a land where joys shall never end,
I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away;
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.

Cathy's dad died

Cathy's dad died at about 4:00 PM Pacific time.

The men from the church came to pray outside his window. Sandra opened the window so that dad could hear them.

They were singing 'Amazing Grace' when dad breathed his last. Sandra says he was breathing comfortably, and just stopped during the song. That's very beautiful.

There is rejoicing in heaven. We will miss him, but the parting is temporary.

Cathy's dad may be dying

Jerry called Cathy with news that dad (Al) was very, very sick. He was told to say his last goodbye's to his dad over the phone. We called Georgia for more information.

Dad's medication was causing a breathing problem, so they took him off the medication. Last night, he started having problems again and hallucinated. The nurse providing hospice care for dad (her name is Pam) spoke with the doctor. It seems that the cancer had returned in the last two months and spread to his liver. Dad's liver is releasing chemicals that is causing the rest of his body to shut down.

The hospital thinks he has between 24 to 48 hours left to live. If this is the end, we will know soon.

Up until yesterday, dad was ambulatory and in full possession of his mental faculties. The nurse says he is not in any pain (morphine and something else), but he is no longer responsive, either. We do not know if he is conscious or not. Jerry, Cathy, and I were given a chance to tell dad that we love him over the phone.

I was not expecting this. Two days ago, when we got in touch with Sandra, we prayed and just expected dad to recover and eventually get his voice back. I was waiting to talk to him when he could answer instead of just listen.

We are still praying for his recovery, selfishly. Certainly, Al would be received into heaven with joy and celebration, but I would rather he live here for a few more decades.

Sandra was upset at us as she never received our voicemails and answering machine messages. Whatever misunderstanding there may be between us and Sandra (dad's wife), God has seen to it that we have a tender heart toward Sandra. Last night, Cathy kept waking up with feelings of anxiety and panic, with the thought that I was dying. She would see me snoring and go back to sleep, and it would happen again. During these attacks, Cathy thought, "What am I going to do? My other half is dying!" This happened through the night. Cathy thinks this is God's way of helping her relate and sympathize with Sandra.

Please pray for:

• God's will, whether he restores Al again or takes him home
• Comfort and grace for Al's family
• Protection and stability for Al's church (where he pastors) as the new pastor take over his responsibilities

Cathy's dad still sick, Georgia uncertain

We've been calling Georgia to check on Cathy's dad. The last time got to speak with either Al or Sandra was Sunday, August 9th! I've left messages on the answering machine at church and their home, and Cathy left messages on Sandra's cell phone, but we just couldn't get in touch.

However, Cathy's sister-in-law, Tracy, called the nurse, who then gave the phone to Sandra, and got this bit of news: Cathy's dad is having some difficulty with the treatment, which caused him to lose his voice again as his throat is swollen, so he can't speak. *sigh* Cathy was then able to call Sandra.

Somewhere along the way, someone told Cathy that they hospital thinks he has very little time left, maybe a month or so. Dad's church, and Sandra, is taking it on faith that God will continue to have mercy upon him. We are hoping and praying for his healing. We still remember his miraculous recovery in August and January.

Prior to dad's stroke, though, he sat down with Sandra and discussed having someone take over the church in his stead should he no longer be available. So, the church will go on, and it has adjusted to dad's absence, waiting for his return.

This affects our Georgia plans in some ways. A year ago in November, Al had asked me to go to Georgia and work by his side so he could train me as his replacement. It seems he may have had to turn the church over to someone who is available now. So it seems we may not be serving at Cathy's dad's church after all.

I'm OK with that; the well being of the church is far more important than my desire to serve in any one particular location. If dad has appointed someone else to head the church, then I think it would be best if I were not around, for even a perceived challenge for authority could be bad for the church.

Unfortunately, I cannot speak with him right now, and do not wish to burden him while he is ill. I've all but decided to let the entire matter go quietly. I plan to tell both Al & Sandra that I understand and respect their decision and will continue to pray for his complete recovery.

We have spent the last year planning to move to Georgia, so if the transfer comes through we may still go. Unless I have misunderstood Cathy's dad's wishes, we'll stay away from the church to avoid causing problems.

Rant: some people shouldn't be sysadmins

Argh. I just got off a client's system where their 'sysadmin' had messed things up so badly it took me 30 minutes to realized he had misconfigured up his DNS server, that his computers were part of a domain but all logging on locally, and the server and workstations were using two different sets of DNS servers even though he is running DHCP. None of it makes sense! And the users just want to do their jobs and go home.

It is soooo frustrating to fix other people's messes. And I know the guy is paid more than I am because he's the sysadmin for a large national vanline agent. *sigh* Where can I get a gig like that, where people overpay you and don't know you are out of your depth?

Fanny on the RV dashboard

 
Here's a photo of Fanny on the dashboard of the RV. She sure is comfy...

Losing weight

Cathy restarted the Atkins diet and got me on-board 09/14/08. I started out weighing 268.5(!), then 261, and now 257.5. So far I've lost 11 pounds. Given that my goal is to be within 10 pounds of my high-school-weight (back when I was actually working out), I've got to lose another 65 pounds.

Some of that 65 pounds needs to be replaced with muscles, so I'll be losing more than 65 pounds in fat. Ugh. I hate saying it out loud, but man I am fat!

I don't plan on looking like Arnold, but I do want to be much more attractive to my wife. She loves me dearly, but I would like to make myself more pleasant to look at. :-)

Some people give up cigarettes, I'm giving up snacks and rice. *sigh*

Cathy's last day at work

Today marks Cathy's last day of employment for the time being. She enjoys her work environment, her co-workers, and her boss likes her. It seems to me that her competence was recognized, so Cathy is sad to leave.

At the same time, she will be enjoy keeping the house organized for a while as we prepare for our move into the R.V. and (God willing) our soon-coming trip to Georgia.

Ther is no free Microsoft Publisher Reader, but there are options

Microsoft Publisher does not have a free viewing program like Adobe Acrobat Reader. My church uses Publisher, but not everybody has it installed, thus creating a problem for people who have to view Publisher files.

So, if you need to read Publisher files, or if you need to send Publisher files to others, here are a few options, including a "free Publisher reader" of sorts.

For CREATORS of publications:

You can convert your publication to PDF first, and email the PDF file.

• If you have Publisher 2003, you should download a PDF printer. I would recommend that you install CutePDF (you'll also need to install GhostScript). This will give you a CutePDF "printer"; You can create PDF files from anything you print, so just print your Publisher file to CutePDF. You will be prompted to save the PDF file; just email the PDF instead of the Publisher file.
• If you have Publisher 2007, download the "Save as PDF or XPS" plug-in from Microsoft. From your publication, choose the File menu to save the publication as a PDF file, then email it.
• You can also embed the Publication in the body of an email; use the File menu in Publisher to send the publication as an email.
  

For RECEIVERS of publications:

If you receive a PUB file as an attachment and do no have Publisher, you can convert it or get a "free reader."

• You can convert the PUB file to a PDF online, for free, at PDF Online and have the converted document emailed to you.
• You can also get a "free reader" of sorts by running the Publisher trial version until it expires. Download the TRIAL of Publisher 2007. For 60 days, you will have full functionality. After 60 days, it will still open PUB files; you can print but you cannot edit them.

Check your tires!

Saw this on Consumerist; six-year-old and older tires could be really dangerous.

Essentially, the rubber of tires dry out after approximately six years, then they can blow while looking completely new. See the video below and check out the post at Consumerist.